Maoists shutdown paralyses Jharkhand

Ranchi, Feb 7 (ANI): The 72-hour shutdown call given by Maoists has paralyzed normal life in Jharkhand.

Maoists attacks have been reported ahead of a 72-hour shutdown call given by them from Sunday across the four states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal.

The shutdown has affected the railways and road transportation. Many trains have been either cancelled, or have been diverted from their routes, leaving passengers stranded at railway stations for hours.

"Train and bus services have been stopped. Passengers who will now have to reach somewhere urgently will have to face great difficulties. Maoists should rethink on what they are doing," said Arvind Singh, a railway passenger.

"They are creating problems for the public. Such frequent shutdown calls by them shows that they are not in favour of the benefit of common people," added Singh.

The frequent shutdowns in the state have affected the daily earnings of the road transport agents.

Zafar, a bus agent said, "This three-day-shutdown has broken our backs. I wanted to appeal to all the Maoist rebels that they should have agreed to the talks with the state government. The 'Operation Green Hunt' belongs to the central government."

"The common people are the ones, who are getting caught in between the Maoists and central government's tiff. They should not have called for this shutdown because it affects those who are earning wages on a daily basis," he added.

The 72-hour shutdown call comes ahead of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's Kolkata visit on February 9 to monitor the security situation in the state.

The rebels have refuted repeated calls by the Centre to renounce violence and hold talks. (ANI)